<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%">Washington, D.C.</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By Eric Anderson<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">4.9.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>The USDA has announced that Agriculture Under Secretary Harris Sherman will depart the organization, according to a release.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"After four years of having the privilege to work alongside the enormously talented, hard working people at USDA, and especially my colleagues in the United States Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service, I am today announcing my upcoming departure from USDA,” said Under Secretary Harris Sherman.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“I am so proud of what we have been able to accomplish. I thank the President and Secretary Vilsack for their leadership and for having given me the opportunity to serve my country in this role. While this has been a very difficult decision for me, I believe it is a good time to transition to new leadership and I have every confidence that my successor will continue to achieve the results that I've witnessed from NRCS and the Forest Service over these past years."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, “Over the past four years, Under Secretary Harris Sherman has led a comprehensive push to enhance and modernize the ways in which we conserve our forests and protect our natural resources. Under his leadership, USDA carried out a record level of conservation work alongside farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Sherman spearheaded an effort to modernize a forest planning policy that recognizes the multiple uses of our forests according to Vilsack. “His efforts resulted in positioning the USDA to be better able to continue achieving positive results in conservation for decades to come. I appreciate his service to our nation, and I wish Harris Sherman all the best in the future.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2013/04/0065.xml&navid=NEWS_RELEASE&navtype=RT&parentnav=LATEST_RELEASES&edeployment_action=retrievecontent" target="_new">USDA </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
